Thursday links: Is MSU's defense 'average?'

By Tom Dienhart, BTN.com Senior Writer, 3 years ago

Thursday links: Is MSU's defense 'average?'

By Tom Dienhart, BTN.com Senior Writer, 3 years ago

Game day is drawing near. Thank goodness, as the Big Ten needs to get back onto the field after last Saturday’s disappointing 7-5 mark. Michigan State has the headliner game, as it travels to Notre Dame with the nation’s No. 1 defense that coordinator Pat Narduzzi calls “average.” If the Spartans defense is average, I’d like to see good. But, Narduzzi may have a point. After all, the combined record of Michigan State’s first three opponents against FBS competition is 0-7.

“(Texas A&M quarterback) Johnny Manziel texted me, (Clemson quarterback) Tajh Boyd, I got a chance to talk to those guys,” Gardner said. “It’s really cool that they’re friends like that. When you have a good game, they texted me after Notre Dame, and when you have a game like that.

“They told me to keep my head up, and keep moving forward.”

Nice to see stud QBs have each other’s backs. Wonder what else they text about?

***

Nebraska legend Tom Osborne has sounded off on the Bo Pelini tape. Here is his take.

So there is that. The biggest revelation is the fact T.O. knew about the tape last fall and talked to Pelini about it. No doubt, it helps Pelini to have Dr. Tom in his corner. If Osborne is one thing, it’s loyal.

“He’s a calm guy, which is great for me, because I’m not a calm guy,” Bill O’Brien said. “It’s really good. Matt (McGloin) and I last year, sometimes obviously we had similar personalities. Christian is a calm guy and that’s good. I think the team feeds off of that.”

No. 1: reduce the big plays. The Nittany Lions allowed 10 plays of 20 or more yards in a 34-31 loss to Central Florida. That’s about seven too many.

No worries. Penn State may not see a better quarterback all season than UCF’s Blake Bortles. Years from now when Bortles is in the NFL, PSU fans can say they saw him in Beaver Stadium beat the Nittany Lions. (Sigh)

***

For a second week in a row, the world watches and waits to see if Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller will play this Saturday.

Weisman, who is seventh nationally in rushing at 141.7 yards heading into Saturday’s tilt vs. Western Michigan, has averaged 28.3 carries in three games. The school record for a season is 26.3 carries by Sedrick Shaw in 1995. I like Weisman’s chances to top it.

Hitting 50 percent of your passes (as Stave did at Arizona State) isn’t good, especially when you consider the attention the Wisconsin ground game commands. That—you’d think—would open up the passing game and make it a bit easier. Stay tuned.

BTN.com senior writer Tom Dienhart is a veteran sports journalist who covers Big Ten football and men’s basketball for BTN.com and BTN TV. Find him on Twitter and Facebook, read all of his work at btn.com/tomdienhart, and subscribe to his posts via RSS. Also, send questions to his weekly mailbag using the form below and read all of his previous answers in his reader mailbag section.

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